JD: Jersey struggles over legalizing pot

By J.D. Mullane

Wednesday

Jun 27, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2012 at 4:30 PM

It’s not easy getting stoned in New Jersey. Legally, anyway.

Try as they might, the proponents of pot, both medicinal and recreational, have been thwarted from achieving high old times in Jersey. (High Old Times, by the way, was a head shop on the Atlantic City Boardwalk years ago that sold marijuana pipes and paraphernalia “for your progressive lifestyle,” as its commercials on WMMR used to say.)

Two years after Trenton approved medical marijuana, the Christie administration is stalling, and those who say they need pot for pain are still acquiring it the old-fashioned way — from street dealers.

The latest setback from changing the Garden State to the Stoner State came Monday, when the state Assembly approved House Bill 1465. The law decriminalizes possession of “small amounts” of marijuana, defined as 15 grams, about half an ounce, or enough to get through three Bob Marley albums.

The law makes possession for personal use a summary offense, or the same as a traffic ticket. Fines begin at $150 and increase to $500 or more for repeat offenders.

Gov. Chris Christie says he will veto the bill. At a town hall in Readington, Hunterdon County, he said: “The federal government still says marijuana is an illegal drug. … I don’t think we should send any sort tacit approval to our children that somehow this is not bad anymore.”

The audience of about 500 people applauded.

Which is odd. An Eagleton poll taken in November shows close to 60 percent of New Jerseyans are fine with decriminalizing marijuana possession, if not eliminating criminal penalties altogether.

What gives? Why does the state step to the threshold of legalizing/decriminalizing pot, but will not cross over, as 15 other states already have.

Simply, people are divided. Not left against right so much, but within themselves.

Let me put it this way. A New Jerseyan is pro-medical marijuana when knowing someone who genuinely needs cannabis to ease the pain of a debilitating illness, but is against it when suspecting that a shiftless neighbor is gaming the system to get high and stay on “disability.”

A New Jerseyan is for decriminalization of marijuana because he has known some pretty sharp people who indulge in pot smoking, but is against decriminalization when he sees a family member’s talents subsumed by the stoner lifestyle.

A New Jerseyan is pro-medical marijuana if the state assures strict regulation, but is against it when the “dispensary clinic” is placed in his neighborhood and its sleazy-looking clientele come and go at all hours.

A New Jerseyan is for decriminalizing possession of marijuana because it does not make sense for a kid’s life to be ruined with a criminal record for getting busted smoking a joint at 19, but is against decriminalization when a 19-year-old stoner dude with a motorcycle appears at the house to take his daughter on a date.

A New Jerseyan is pro-medical marijuana when a panel of respected physicians vouches for the effectiveness of smoking cannabis for certain maladies, but is against it when, on a visit to Los Angeles, he is accosted by seedy individuals who offer to sell him state-approved medical marijuana ID cards, signed by some quack.

A New Jerseyan favors decriminalizing possession of small quantities of pot because, hey, he smoked weed when he was young and he turned out all right, but is against decriminalization when pot smoke wafts from the next-door neighbor’s house and into the baby’s room all summer long.

A New Jerseyan favors decriminalization of marijuana because, really, alcohol is much more dangerous, but is against decriminalization when he learns that the flight crew of the Boeing 737 carrying his family from Newark-Liberty to Disney World regularly smokes dope — in fact, the pilot twisted a few fatties the night before.

So, New Jerseyans are struggling with the issue. By the way, show me a marijuana advocate who is cool with that last one, and I will show you a liar.

J.D. Mullane's column appears weekly.

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